NILAN
performer/creator
actor∙ playwright∙ producer
Press
Radio Golf by August Wilson
"One of the few traits keeping Hicks safely out of the realm of stock villain-hood is the poignancy Johnson brings to his character's account of his first truly liberating experience—hitting a golf ball and watching it fly. We sense Hicks' desperation to achieve that sort of flight for himself is as deep-seated, and blinding, as his hunger to join the realm of the truly rich and powerful."
-Bryon Woods, Indy Week
Clybourne Park by Bruce Norris
"Johnson's Albert, though a smaller role, is relatable, but he shines as Kevin, who wants everyone to get along and get on with their lives. Johnson is able to elicit laughs amid uncomfortable scenes and provide a level of sanity to tense situations"
-Larissa Mount, Broadwayworld.com
The Imaginary Invalid by Moliere
"It is ironically clear that the “lesser” health-care workers (the nurse and the Bucket Boy, aptly portrayed by Nilan Johnson) are the wisest of the bunch."
-Dawn Reno Langley, Triangle Arts & Entertainment
Triassic Parq by Marshall Pailet
"Nilan Johnson, who portrayed the Velociraptor of Faith, delivered impressive vocal ranges and diversity, while also contributing a deeper message of community to theperformance."
- Josephine Yurcaba, Daily TarHeel
Radio Golf by August Wilson
"Nilan Johnson’s Roosevelt is a knowing portrait of greed-blinded aspiration, heartbreaking in the character’s wrong-headed choices."
-Roy C. Dicks, News & Observer
Please Report Any Suspicious Activity by Rick Park
"Finally, there's no telling if Rick Park's Please Report Any Suspicious Activity would have had the same convulsive appeal if Nilan Johnson hadn't nailed an improbable but devastating musical theater riff in mid-show. But he did, and it did; it was one of several fortunate meetings between stage and page artists this time out "
-Bryan Wood, Indy Week
Clybourne Park by Bruce Norris
"Nilan Johnson, a commanding presence on stage, also turned in a fine performance.”
-Jesse R. Gephart , Triangle Arts & Entertainment
The Imaginary Invalid by Moliere
"Ball's deliberately scabrous adaptation spares us nothing from that catalog, with repeated and abrasive verbal and, occasionally, visual references to the acts and by-products of defecation, inevitably transported and dumped into an audience-level basin by the sarcastic Bucket Boy (given fitting contempt by Nilan Johnson)."
-Bryan Woods, Indy Week
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Triassic Parq by Marshal Pailet
"Nilan Johnson was spot-on as the Velociraptor of Faith, hitting the comedy notes as well as the dramatic undertones."
-Larisa Mount, Broadway World